News

The Parkinson’s Foundation has received $250,000 to come up with new ways to eliminate improve healthcare for women that have Parkinson’s disease (PD). The foundation’s project, “Women and PD TALK,” comes out of a recognition that historically, PD research has been too focused on men. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI),…

Scientists have developed a new computer-based method that shows great promise in improving the accuracy of diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The study, “Ensembles of Deep Learning Architectures for the Early Diagnosis of the Alzheimer’s Disease,” was published in the International Journal Of Neural Systems journal.

Georgetown University will conduct a clinical trial of Novartis’ cancer therapy Tasigna (nilotinib) as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The Phase 2 trial follows a report last year that Tasigna can improve both cognitive and movement symptoms in Parkinson’s patients. Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) researchers will perform the trial…

Jazz Pharmaceuticals has enrolled the first patient in a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating its drug candidate JZP-110 as a potential treatment for excessive sleepiness in patients with Parkinson’s disease. JZP-110 is a selective dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (DNRI) in late-stage development for the treatment of excessive sleepiness…

The International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS) is hosting the 1st Pan American Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Congress (PAS Congress) this weekend. The inaugural meeting, whose theme is “Movement Disorders in the Americas: State of the Art,” runs from today until Sunday, Feb. 26, at the…

FORMA Therapeutics has received a research grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to expand its efforts to find a treatment for the disease. FORMA is conducting its protein-based research in collaboration with the University of Liverpool and the UK Medical Research Council (MRC). The work focuses…

Sanofi Genzyme is now recruiting participants for a Phase 2 trial to study the safety and efficacy of GZ/SAR402671 for treating Parkinson’s disease (PD) in patients carrying a mutation in the GBA gene — the most common genetic risk factor for PD. Such mutations interfere with the production of the encoded protein, called glucocerebrosidase, which…

Researchers have identified a gene that acts as a switch for genes regulating mitochondria metabolism in neurons. These findings suggest that gene activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) is a potential therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease, as the death of neurons in Parkinson’s has been linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. The study, “dATF4…

New brain imaging techniques are allowing researchers to explore the brain in ever greater detail,  helping them to better understand potential complications and new treatments for Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases. Three of these new technologies were recently showcased at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting. They…

A biomarker usually measured in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and used to differentiate Parkinson’s disease (PD) from similar diseases, has been found to have high diagnostic value when analyzing blood samples. These findings suggest that diagnosis can be obtained more easily without sacrificing accuracy. The study “A biomarker for differential diagnosis…